Ping Chong

Ping Chong (; born 1946) is a Canadian-born American contemporary theatre director, choreographer, video and installation artist. Born in Toronto and raised in the Chinatown section of Manhattan, Chong is considered a seminal figure in Asian-American theatre and the Asian-American arts movement.

Career and works Originally trained as a visual artist and filmmaker at the School of Visual Arts and Pratt Institute, Chong studied dance and performance with Meredith Monk and began his theatrical career as a member of Monk's company, the House, in 1971. Chong was both a performer and collaborator on The House. His co-created work includes The Travelogue Series: Paris 1972, Chacon 1974, and Venice/Milan 1976. His final collaboration with Monk was The Games in 1983 which premiered at the Schaubuhne in Berlin, in then-West Germany.

Chong created his first independent theatre work, Lazarus, in 1972. He has worked in the visual arts, film, dance, and Chinese opera (both his grandfather and father were directors and librettists). In the earliest works, such as Lazarus, Fear and Loathing in Gotham (1975), and Humboldt's Current (1977), the theme of otherness reflected Chong's personal sense of estrangement from the society he grew up in as a first-generation immigrant in a segregated city. Later, the theme became more universal, encompassing a broader range of material. Many of Chong's works concern colonialism and the collision of cultures and/or issues of cultural diversity, and frequently draw on documentary and interview-based materials (as in the Undesirable Elements series.)

Ping Chong + Company (originally called the Fiji Theatre Company) was founded in 1975. The company's mission is "to explore the meaning of contemporary theatre and art on a national and international level" and "to create and tour innovative multi-disciplinary works of theater and art that explore the intersections of history, race, art and technology in the modern world." The company has created and toured more than 100 works by Chong and his collaborators, which have been presented at theaters, performing arts centers, and arts festivals around the world.

Key works in Chong's evolution include Humboldt's Current (1977), from his first decade. It is an early work anticipating Chong's interest in geopolitical and historical subjects. It received an Obie Award. In 1980, Ping Chong formed a small ensemble, and it was with this group of performers, which included Jeannie Hutchins, Louise Smith, John Fleming, and Brian Hallas, that he evolved his performance style. A.M./A.M.—The Articulated Man (1981) marked Chong's interest in choreographic, non-literary theater. The second decade of Ping Chong's career includes 3 major works back-to-back. Nosferatu, A Symphony of Darkness (1985), Angels of Swedenborg (1985) and Kind Ness (1986). Kind Ness was the recipient of a USA Playwright's Award in 1988. The 1990s marked major changes in Ping Chong's work. It is at this time that he disbanded his decade old ensemble in order to explore a solo career. From 1990 with the East/West Quartet: Deshima, Chinoiserie (1996), After Sorrow (1997), Pojagi (1999) and in 1992 with the launch of the Undesirable Elements series, the work took a turn towards poetic documentary and historical subjects. The exception to this is the puppet theater works beginning with Kwaidan (1998) which largely nods toward Chong's earlier allegorical works.

Ping Chong's early interest in puppetry starting with Lazarus in 1972 was given full expression in the creation of large scale productions of puppet theatre works including, Kwaidan (1998) which received Unima-USA's Citation of Excellence in the Art of Puppetry, Obon: Tales of Rain and Moonlight (2002), the sequel to Kwaidan, and Cathay: Three Tales of China (2005), Kwaidan and Obon were both based on Kwaidan, Japanese ghost stories collected and adapted by Lafcadio Hearn. Cathay, a commission by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was set in China and used three interconnected stories to explore three eras of Chinese history: the Tang Dynasty, the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese invasion during World War II, and contemporary China today. Cathay was named one of the Top 10 Shows of the 2005-2006 Season by NY Theatre Wire and was awarded three Henry Hewes Awards for achievement in theatrical design.

Since 1992, Chong and his collaborators have created over 70 works in the Undesirable Elements project, an ongoing series of oral-history theater works exploring issues of race, culture, and identity in the lives of individuals in specific communities. The development process includes an extended residency and rehearsal period during which Ping Chong and collaborators conduct intensive interviews with potential participants who are not generally performers, from the local community. These interviews then form the basis of a script, performed by the interviewees, which covers the historical and personal narratives of individuals who are in some way living between two cultures. Chong has often described the series as, "Seated operas for the spoken word." One of the most recent entries in the series is Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity which started touring in 2016. Beyond Sacred is an interview-based theatre production exploring the diverse experiences of Muslim communities in the United States. The five cast members of Beyond Sacred vary in many ways but share the common experience of coming of age in a post-9/11 New York City, at a time of increasing Islamophobia. They are young men and women that reflect a wide range of Muslim identities, including those who have converted to Islam, those who were raised Muslim, but have since left the faith, those who identify as “culturally” Muslim, and those who are observant on a daily basis. It stars Tiffany Yasmin Abdelghani, Ferdous Dehqan, Kadin Herring, Amir Khafagy and Maha Syed.

In 2014, Chong and dramaturg, director, and playwright Talvin Wilks created Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America in collaboration with undergraduate and graduate designers and actors in the University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies. Of the work, Chong says, "In response to the recent killings of Trayvon Martin, shooting of Jordan Davis, shooting of Michael Brown and the seemingly endless killings of black men and boys for unarmed offenses, we have designed Collidescope to be a collision-course view of the legacy and psyche behind this history of racial violence, racism and social injustice in America." Subsequent adaptations have performed at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Wake Forest University.

There are aspects of Chong's prolific career that have remained under the radar. Primarily an artist of the theater, he also, when the opportunity arose, created works of video art, pure dance works, and installations. The two-dance works are, I Will Not be Sad In This World (1991), Baldwin/NOW (2016). Video works include the video adaptation of I Will Not Be Sad In This World (1992) and Plage Concrete (1988). His installation work includes Kind Ness not to be confused with his play Kind Ness, a commission by MIT's List Visual Arts Center in its inaugural season in 1985. Another highlight of Chong's installation work was Testimonial commissioned for the Venice Bienalle.

In 2023, Chong was honored with an Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is featured in the 2025 documentary about Meredith Monk entitled Monk in Pieces.

+ Works Title Year Medium Collaborator(s), notes A Universal History of Infamy: Variations on Nocturne in 1200 Seconds 2020 Visual art and installation Kenya Bullock, Jaime Sunwoo, Matt Chilton, Zakaria Khafagy, Irisdelia Garcia Nocturne Remix 2020 Film and media Edwin Aguila, Kenya Bullock, Irisdelia Garcia, Zakaria Khafagy Collidescope 4.0 (University of Minnesota) 2019 Theater Talvin Wilks Difficult Lives 2019 Theater Hiromi Sakamoto and cast ALAXSXA ALASKA 2017 Theater Ryan Conarro, Justin Perkins, Gary Upay'aq Beaver (Central Yup'ik) Cage Is Stage 2017 Visual art and installation Danny Yunh Collidescope 3.0 (Wake Forest University) 2017 Theater Talvin Wilks Collidescope 2.0 (UMass Amherst) 2016 Theater Talvin Wilks Baldwin/NOW 2016 Dance Ensemble PUSH! Real Athletes. Real Stories. Real Theatre. 2015 Theater Sara Zatz and performers Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity 2015 Theater Sara Zatz, Ryan Conarro, and performers Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America 2014 Theater Talvin Wilks Brooklyn '63 2013 Theater Talvin Wilks and performers Angels of Swedenborg (2011) 2011 Dance John Fleming The Devil You Know 2010 Puppetry, theater Cry for Peace: Voices From The Congo 2010 Theater Kyle Bass, Sara Zatz, and performers Throne of Blood 2010 Theater Invisible Voices: New Perspectives On Disability 2009 Theater Sara Zatz and performers The Women of the Hill 2009 Theater Talvin Wilks and cast Secret History: The Philadelphia Story 2009 Theater Sara Zatz and performers Delta Rising 2008 Theater Talvin Wilks and cast Inside/Out...voices from the disability community 2008 Theater Sara Zatz and performers Tales from the Salt City 2008 Theater Sara Zatz and performers Undesirable Elements/Asian America 2007 Theater Sara Zatz and performers Cocktail 2007 Theater Vince LiCata Six Lives 2007 Theater Sara Zatz, Bonnie Morris, Michael Robins, and performers Testimonial II 2006 Visual art and installation Michiki Okaya Native Voices-Secret History 2005 Theater Sara Zatz and performers Undesirable Elements/Ten Years Later 2005 Theater Sara Zatz, the performers, Sean Kelley-Pegg, Bonnie Morris, Mai Moua Undesirable Elements/Albuquerque 2005 Theater Sara Zatz and performers Cathay: Three Tales of China 2005–2012 Puppetry Secret Histories: Seattle Youth 2004 Theater Sara Zatz and performers BLIND NESS: The Irresistible Light of Encounter 2004 Theater, puppetry, circus Michael Rohd, Bobby Bermea, Jeff Randall, Burke Walker Secret History: Journeys Abroad, Journeys Within 2004 Theater Leyla Modirzadeh, Sara Zatz, and cast God Favors The Predator 2004 Theater Michael Rohd La Clemenza Di Tito 2003 Music and opera Undesirable Elements/Pioneer Valley 2003 Theater Talvin Wilks and cast Undesirable Elements/Hanover 2002 Theater Michael Rohd and cast Undesirable Elements/Berlin 2002 Theater Michael Rohd and cast UE 92/02 2002 Theater Talvin Wilks and cast Children of War 2002 Theater Reason 2002 Theater Michael Rohd EDDA: Viking Tales of Lust, Greed and Family 2001–2002 Theater Victoria Abras Undesirable Elements/Madison, WI 2001 Theater Undesirable Elements/Atlanta 2001 Theater Talvin Wilks and cast Secret Histories/Charleston 2001 Theater Talvin Wilks and cast Obon: Tales of Rain and Moonlight 2002–2003 Puppetry, theater Secret History 2000 Theater Undesirable Elements/Washington DC 2000 Theater Michael Rohd and cast Undesirable Elements/Chicago 1999 Theater Michael Rohd and cast Undesirable Elements/East Harlem 1999 Theater Emerald Trinket Monsod, Alain Jezequel, and cast Undesirable Elements/Hamilton College 1999 Theater Pojagi 1999–2000 Theater Undesirable Elements: A/P/A 1999 Theater SlutForArt 1999–2002 Dance, theater Muna Tseng Truth and Beauty 1999–2005 Theater Michael Rohd, Jeff Randall Undesirable Elements/Newark 1998 Theater Nocturne in 1200 Seconds 1998 Theater Undesirable Elements/Seattle 1998 Theater Kwaidan 1998–2000 Theater, puppetry Undesirable Elements/Yellow Springs 1997 Theater Undesirable Elements/Rotterdam 1997 Theater Dave Schwab and cast Undesirable Elements/Los Angeles 1997 Theater David Mohrmann and cast After Sorrow 1997–1998 Dance, theater Muna Tseng Curlew River 1997 Music and opera 98.6: A Convergence in 15 Minutes 1996–2007 Dance, theater Interfacing Joan 1996–1997 Theater Written by Louise Smith Undesirable Elements/Tokyo (Gaijin) 1995 Theater Hiromi Sakamoto and cast Testimonial 1995 Visual art and installation Fumio Nanjo, Dana Friis-Hansen Persuasion 1994 Theater Anne Basting, Vince LiCata Chinoiserie 1994–1995 Music, opera, theater Michael Matthews, Regine Anna Seckinger, Ric Oquita Undesirable Elements/Twin Cities 1994 Theater Emerald Trinket Monsod, Cochise Anderson, and cast Undesirable Elements/New York 1993 Theater Undesirable Elements/Cleveland 1993 Theater American Gothic 1992 Theater A Facility for the Containment and Channeling of Undesirable Elements 1992 Visual art and installation Carlos Solanas I Will Not Be Sad in This World 1991/2008 Dance, film, media Elephant Memories 1990–1994 Theater Deshima 1990–1996 Theater, dance Michael Matthews Tempus Fugit 1990 Visual art and installation Curtis Carter 4AM America 1990–1991 Theater Noiresque: The Fallen Angel 1989 Theater Brightness 1989 Circus Louise Smith, designers, and performers In The Absence of Memory 1989 Visual art and installation Skin - A State of Being 1989 Theater Quartetto 1988 Theater Michael Matthews Snow 1988 Theater Plage Concrete 1988 Visual art and installation Gary Garrels, Jock Reynolds Without Law, Without Heaven 1987 Theater Written by Norman Duke Maraya - Acts of Nature in Geological Time 1987–1988 Theater KIND NESS 1986–1993 Theater Nosferatu 1985–1991/2017 Theater Angels of Swedenborg 1985–1989 Dance, theater John Fleming Kind Ness 1985 Visual art and installation Katy Kline A Race 1983–1984 Theater Astonishment and The Twins 1984–1987 Theater Louise Smith Anna Into Nightlight 1982–1983 Dance, film and media, puppetry, theater Nuit Blanche, A Select View of Earthlings 1981–1985 Theater Louise Smith, John Miglietta, Tone Blevins, Pablo Vela A.M./A.M. - The Articulated Man 1981–1985 Dance, theater Rainer and the Knife 1981–1982 Theater Rob List Humboldt's Current 1977–1980 Theater Fear and Loathing in Gotham 1975–1982 Theater I Flew to Fiji, You Went South 1973 Theater Lazarus 1972–1980 Theater